Ex-Cal Fire 2001 Ram 1500

[jimjam300]

(This was not my truck, but it's identical)

-5.2L V8
-Automatic transmission
-Options are 4WD, Club Cab, Dana Trac-Lok rear LSD, and transmission skid plate

My upgrades:
-3" front Skyjacker springs
-1.5" rear add-a-leaf
-Rancho RS7MT shocks
-255/75/17 Yokohama Geolander G003 MTs
-3rd Gen 17" wheels
-4.10 gears
-Eaton TrueTrac LSD front/rear
-JKS sway bar disconnects
-Stryker adjustable control arms
-Benny's 4x4 winch bumper
-Badland Apex 12000 winch
-V10 radiator
-fiberglass fuel tank skid plate
-dual 10" subwoofers
-Posi-Lock cable center axle disconnect


This thing started out life in the service of Cal Fire (California's state fire department), which ended in 2017 with 255k miles. It went through a couple of owners who were insistent on running it into the ground. I bought it in '21 just for hauling stuff around to wait out used auto prices and decided after fixing up a few things, it was perfectly fine to keep around. It's currently at 291k miles.

I went camping with it around Carson Pass on 4th of July weekend '23 and encountered some mud and snow that really hampered by ability to go around and explore that would've been a piece of cake if I had better tires and ground clearance. I decided I already had a good vehicle and I started building early '24.

Haven't done much with it since I bought a house a few months ago, but I did bring it to the Gambler 500 in Oregon this year where I thought I would recover some beaters, but only ended up towing a blown up 22RE Toyota truck to the owner's campsite.

Ditched the cheap fiberglass shell and got a SoftTopper last week.

My plan for the future is to swap out the wheels and tires. I decided I don't like the mud terrains so I'm gonna try to figure out some 35" AT pizza cutters on some high offset 16 or 17" wheels and plastic fender flares to keep them from being outside the body. I am gonna try to find some used ~99" rock sliders to weld on when I can. Probably not gonna do much more than that, as I still use the truck for yard and house work.

I think later this month I'm gonna head back to the Sierra and hit some trails for camping before the snow comes in.


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[shabba]

Nice rig! I’m digging that front bumper. What are your thoughts on the soft topper? I’ve had fiberglass and commercial caps before and always end up taking them off but they were so practical for dry storage. Seems like soft toppers are best of both worlds as far as dry storage goes and ease of removing it when necessary.

 

[jimjam300]

Sourgrass trail in California. Was really feeling the small tires and lack of rock sliders.


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[jimjam300]

Nice rig! I’m digging that front bumper. What are your thoughts on the soft topper? I’ve had fiberglass and commercial caps before and always end up taking them off but they were so practical for dry storage. Seems like soft toppers are best of both worlds as far as dry storage goes and ease of removing it when necessary.

I really like it so far, it's a perfect solution for me as I'm often using my truck bed for hauling yard waste or gravel or whatnot. Being able to put it on or remove it in 5 minutes by myself is great. Plus it weighs 10lbs.


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[Trektor73]

Awesome truck. Simple and I bet it just works. I always forget these had solid front axles on the half-tons. I have a soft topper, too, and like the versatility of it.

 

[shabba]

@jimjam300 cool man I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for one. I saw an LB7 Chevy with a headache rack and a soft topper setup and really looked the looks of it. Look forward to seeing what’s next for the ram!

 

[jimjam300]

I have been working on my house, so I haven't had a lot of time working on the truck.

My intermediate steering shaft has stripped splines on the side that mate with the steering box and it was making driving pretty scary. I pulled one from a junkyard truck and it was the same deal. My options for replacement were a $280 Borgeson with double u-joints and a $50 RockAuto cheapo with a rag joint. I got the cheapo. I'm afraid the Borgeson would eat my steering box splines. My power steering in general has been pretty weak, the wheel does not return to center despite how much of the front end I've rebuilt. On top of that, I have to hard crank the wheel when I am climbing rocks. So I bought a new power steering pump and hoses for a rebuild of that. No doubt this problem has assisted in damaging the steering shaft. Parts are in the mail currently.

The rear has too much leaf spring, so I'm gonna pull the add-a-leafs and replace with a shackle flip from Hogback Fab. With the removal of the lift block it'll be the same height as it is currently. For tires I am getting Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs in 255/85/17 and I can't decide on new wheels (everyone and their dog wants way too much money for used ones) so I'm just gonna keep these current 3rd gen ones. Need to work some OT so I can fit this all in the budget.

Now here's a thought:
This truck has a NP231 tcase. The 2500/3500 trucks came with a NP241, which means a NP241OR from a Jeep Rubicon has room to fit. So with exception to input and outputs, the Rubicon tcase should bolt in with factory parts.

 

[Tex68w]

I forgot these had live axles up front, pretty cool. Love the idea behind the use, should make for an affordable yet capable off-roader.